


A Familiar Photograph

by spacerabbit (plushbun)



Category: Endonesia (Video Game)
Genre: Boy Scouts, Callback, Emotional, Emotional Roller Coaster, Feelings, Happy Ending, Historical References, Journalism, Lost Memories, Modern AU, Old Friends, Post-War, Realization, Serious, Some Humor, Spoilers, War Mention, ending expansion, museum, references, remembering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28891287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plushbun/pseuds/spacerabbit
Summary: ◯ Endonesia ending spoilers within. Does not pertain to the preservation ending, and instead pertains to the alternative ending where you leave the island.This story expands and builds off of the ending sequences combined.When Tei decides to stop by at the museum instead of heading to the local coffee shop on her day off, she suddenly finds many things at the museum that seem to be familiar to her somehow... Taking notes, she embarks on finding out why exactly she feels this way.
Relationships: Jesse | Tei Yenlin & Roger Nyckel





	A Familiar Photograph

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this fic hit me in the face pretty hard one night, so I decided to immediately write down the ideas I had for it and spend the night the next day writing it. So I did just that!
> 
> Assuming you've read already that this story contains spoilers, here's a bit more clarification on the setting and characters before we get into it...
> 
> Going off of the non-preservation ending, we see the characters are back to their respective times. In this fic, Tei and Roger are from the same time period. Along with this, this fic assumes their memories from their time on the island are repressed, and Tei is only able to recall a small portion of her time there while Roger knows a little bit more than her. I won't say what else I've included from the ending since it'll spoil the fic, but there's some familiar faces from the ending here too that some keen eyes will notice. 
> 
> As usual with my Endonesia fics, please note there might be inconsistencies with canon since I'm working off of what I've personally seen/watched, the little amount of translation I've done on the game, along with what my friend has translated.  
> I still want to write for this game regardless of the language barrier, so here's your disclaimer now if you notice anything is off. For example, the characters names may be off since there's a lot of ways you could write Roger's last name.  
> In the end, just know some characters names are not as straightforward. If I find out the official or fan-accepted way they're written, just know I'll come back in and fix. 
> 
> With that being said, enjoy.

Running, running, running...

Tei was always running somewhere, jogging to her next destination in a split seconds notice. 

Even when she was off the island, she still had a fierce athletic spirit in her blood that always kept her moving, making her a marvel to anyone who met her due to her insane talent. It certainly helped in her journalism, as it always made it so that she’d never miss out on an interview, no matter the circumstances. A renowned, competitive journalist, she was the one to hire if one wanted a compelling story unlike any other. 

...Today, however, Tei was off the job, spending her time storming through the city instead as she seamlessly ran through crowds of people. Making her way to the nearby coffee shop, she effortlessly ran past traffic as she crossed crosswalks without the appropriate signal, somehow escaping death as she managed to run past incoming cars and bikes. Unbothered, she kept running as her shoes slammed against the pavement, until curiosity peeked its eyes in when suddenly something caught her interest out of the corner of her eye. Coming to a screeching halt, Tei stopped running entirely as she turned to look at a pair of towering lion statues.

Bronze statues of lions adorned the entrance of the city museum, with each statue laying across from one another on each side of the museum doors. A large staircase led people to the tall doors that allowed people inside, the handle begging for someone to open it as the weak metal it was made out of clanked in the wind. Looking at the statues, Tei immediately took out her notepad and pen from her purse as she began to write down rough notes about them. 

_Giant lions… Huge, mean. Menacing. I like em’._

Smiling, she put away her notepad as she decided to visit the museum instead, jumping up the steps that led to the door and flinging open the large door without difficulty. With a slam, the door shut behind her as she darted inside, wasting no time to see the exhibits that awaited her.

However, while she was usually good about not bumping into people with her extravagant speed, she managed to bounce off of a child who was wandering around the entrance. 

“Ah..!” Tei said, surprised. She looked down to meet eyes with a little boy with blonde hair, and a strange uniform on. 

“Oh, I’m sorry!” The boy said to her, unaware she had bumped into him first. He looked up to her in awe, eventually turning his head away and wandering somewhere else entirely. 

Confused, Tei looked up to realize that the museum was jam packed with children, specifically boys in the same uniform the blonde boy was wearing.

Eventually, it clicked in Tei’s head what was happening, and she brought out her notepad once again as soon as she realized.

_Boy Scouts… Looks to be a field trip? I’ll ask around._

Carrying her notepad around, she stopped running for once and started walking around the museum, watching numerous boy scouts run around and talk about the exhibits.

Walking towards a prehistoric ocean exhibit, she managed to get a hold of one stray boy scout who was looking at a model of an ancient fish in awe, with the model filling the room with its peculiar grandeur. 

“Excuse me…” She began talking as she approached the boy, taking out her notepad once again. 

“Do you know where your scout leader is? It’s important.” She waved her pen around as she brought her notepad up to her chest. 

“Our scout leader? I think he’s in the war zone.” The boy replied, immediately turning his head back to look at the giant fish.

_War zone… So the war exhibit, got it._

Tei sprinted out of the room to go to the war exhibition, finding it in no time due to how much space in the museum it took up. This exhibition was one of the most famous ones of the museum due to the sheer amount of artifacts and memorabilia the museum had for it, and it was no question why the boy scouts were there to see this particular exhibit due to its significance. 

Zooming in in a flash, Tei entered the exhibit, but wasn’t ready for how solemn the atmosphere was inside it. Losing all her energy at once, she adjusted for the mood shift as she began to quietly walk around, taking care not to make any sudden loud noises. 

Old, black and white photographs of a brutal war were plastered all over the walls, with various golden plaques next to them describing in detail notable events and tragedies. Stunned, Tei visited many of these plaques to read what they had to say, absorbed in the array of raw information that lay all about the exhibition. Taking silent notes, she immersed herself in the history until she felt something on her leg.

The same boy scout from earlier had brushed by her, causing her to turn around as she watched the boy run towards something in the distance. Intrigued, Tei left her learning behind as she followed the boy, only to find at the end of it all a _giant tank._

A large, beige tank laid in the middle of a single room, it’s size being bigger than anything Tei had ever seen as it towered above everything else in the area. A dull, warm light illuminated the tank, making it the most important object in the space as people gathered around it to look at it.

A restored artifact of its time, it was no wonder why people crowded around to look at it, as its significance in the war was unlike anything else. To have such an intact tank from a time so long ago was a feat. 

Shaking off her awe from the tank, she finally noticed what seemed to be the scout leader in front of it. The man admired the tank as he looked at it in pure fascination, almost looking as if he’d cry due to its existence. 

Slowly walking up to him, Tei stood next to the man as she spoke.

“Field trip?” She questioned, looking towards him at the end of her sentence.

Startled, the man finally ripped his gaze from the tank and to Tei.

“Y-yeah..!! Yeah... Field trip, haha. You got me good there..!!” The man let out a sigh as recovered from his shock.

Tei laughed. 

“I didn’t mean to!” She laughed again, joining in with the man’s laughter as he began to laugh at the event himself. 

After the two calmed down, Tei broke the silence again. 

“You looked _real_ invested in that tank.”

“Yeah… Everytime I see this, I’m amazed.” 

“Really?” Tei questioned. She got out her notepad to take notes as usual. 

“Yep… I had an ancestor who fought in the war. Same guy who used this tank.” He turned to face the tank again, placing his hand on his chin as he looked up at it. 

“Wow!” Tei gasped, amazed at the fact. She quickly scribbled down the revelation. 

_Scout leader related to a guy featured in the museum's war exhibit…_

_...He’s kinda cute. But meh. I bet his ancestor looks better. No use hanging around this guy any longer._

Looking up from her notepad, she stared at the tank again, mesmerized this time by it.

Something was vaguely familiar about it, but she couldn't place _what._

Turning to the plaque that was placed nearby, she started to read more about the tank, along with learning about how minefields were used throughout the war. 

_“Ha! Bet I could outrun those…”_ She thought, imagining herself running through a minefield without any injuries. 

...Her comment only made her think more on why the tank felt familiar, however, as she began to feel as if she had been through a minefield before, maybe in a past life…

She didn’t dwell on this thought forever, as fortunately she promptly made her exit as soon as she was done reading the plaque. Satisfied that she solved the “mystery” of why there were so many boy scouts in the museum, she walked out of the exhibit and began to roam freely as she checked out the other exhibits on display.

In reality, much this “mystery” was just her wanting to see if the scout leader was cute… but much to her dismay, he wasn’t anything like what she’d been seeking lately. 

Aimlessly looking at endless ancient sculptures and futuristic models, Tei wandered about as she visited the many exhibits the museum had to offer, spending a good amount of time at each one as she observed many different stories of the past. Deja vu struck her once again as she quickly looked through a medieval exhibit, with a specific set of armor on display standing out to her in particular. She stood still as she stared intensely at it, thinking hard about why it felt so familiar to her to no avail. She shook her head as she decided not to think any more about it, choosing to march on past it as she carried on with her journey.

In time, Tei eventually reached the archive section of the museum, located entirely in the bottom half of the building in a large basement of sorts. Wondering about its contents, she headed inside of it, walking down a large, wooden staircase that creaked as she stepped down each step. The archive was much unlike the rest of the museum, carrying a vintage air to it that made it seem stark in comparison to the rest of the modernized museum. Once Tei reached the bottom of the stairs, she couldn’t believe how incredibly moody the room was.

The room was practically the essence of the color sepia, as much of its walls and floor were of a murky reddish brown that encompassed the entire area. Old posters hung on the walls from a variety of eras, from the 70’s all the way to the 20’s advertising long gone singers, foods, and merchandise. Another large room laid across from her to discover, as the beige room was merely an entryway to the main space of the archive. Walking through the small hallway, Tei approached a worn wooden door that led into the main room, accidentally opening it too forcibly as it banged against the wall once she let go. The collision echoing through the archive, she stood in shock as she met eyes with endless shelves of papers, pamphlets, photographs, and more as the slam against the wall filled the room as if it was an entrance jingle. Some papers fluttered in the wind due to the impact, with a paper from a high shelf flying off of it and floating towards the ground as a result. Picking up the paper, Tei set it down on a small table in the room before she set out to explore the archive.

The main part of the archive managed to be much more moodier than the last room she was in, with dim lights surrounding her as they lit up everywhere she went with a sickly yellow. An endless amount of documents also surrounded her, as they were all sorted and organized by letter and resting on the infinite amount of wooden shelves that occupied the area. Bookshelves were also scattered around the place, as many old books were on display along with being available for people to flip through if they so wanted. Finally, guiding posters were located near the entrance of the room, showing visitors which groups of shelves and bookcases represented each era as little arrows pointed towards specific sections on the posters.

Eyeballing the posters for a second. Tei carried on without acknowledging much about them, allowing herself to just flow freely through the room to see where it takes her. Nothing really caught her attention as she happened to wander and look around without much purpose. 

...However, if there was one thing she couldn’t take her attention off of, it was the fact that another person resided in the room with her.

A man was hastily going through an endless amount of papers in front of him that were on an empty table in the room, flipping through almost everything he had as if he was searching for something in particular. A messy stack of papers sat next to him, almost as if he had already gone through these documents already in his search as they laid quietly next to his constant scrambling. The man notably had a distinct air to him, as he wore a dark brown vintage jacket along with some faded, worn out jeans. His hair was blonde and slicked back, and his entire appearance when seen together made it almost look like he was a man of the past _himself_ looking through his own history. 

Tei looked at him for a second as she happened to pass by him, pretending to ignore him as she walked past. However, she was deeply curious about what he was here for, as it seemed as if he had been here awhile in consideration of the numerous papers next to him he had apparently gone through already. Placing herself near him, she began to look at a shelf of photographs that were across from him, pretending to have an interest in them as she quietly observed him in secret.

Grabbing her notepad, she took notes in silence about the situation.

_Strange man… going through papers from… the 19th century? Those are all from the 19th century section… The labels are still on them. Did he just… take the entire section?!_

_But why…?_

Tei only watched more as she became more and more invested in him. There was something to this man she _had_ to discover. 

The man eventually made his way into a large book he had picked up from the section, slamming it onto the table in front of him. Prying it open right away, he began to skim it, flipping through it like mad as he looked at dozens of pictures and paragraphs inside. He kept his hand in the book as a bookmark of sorts as he wrestled with the book, keeping it inside certain sections until he was done looking at each one. Putting his hand inside the book, it was an entire process he had come up with as he constantly kept going through entire sections and re-inserting his hand into whatever new spot he needed to save. 

Tei jotted down notes relentlessly as he did this. 

_There’s something he’s looking for, I know it..!_

All of a sudden, the man had stopped on a page, bringing his constant search to a halt as he brought his face up to a particular page in the book to see it up close. Frantically darting his eyes around the page in amazement, the man loudly gasped as he began to speak. 

“Dan..!” He shouted, almost crying. The man slammed his head back into the page again, lifting up the book in pure shock as he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Tei couldn’t help but feel enamoured by the whole scene, fully turning towards him now to see what had caused him such surprise. Much to her own surprise, however, the name “Dan” was familiar to her too, causing her to break her own silence as she accidently spoke her thoughts aloud. 

“Dan..? Why is that name familiar?” Tei said. 

Startled even more, the man turned around to see Tei, hesitating to reply to her statement as he lowered the book back down to the table. Looking to the floor, he thought before he looked up again only to see Tei approaching him this time.

“Dan, Dan, I know that name..!!” Tei looked down to the page the man found, seeing a young man along with the rest of his family in a large family portrait. The face of the young man immediately sparked something in her mind as soon as she saw it, causing her to stutter as she spoke. 

“I know him, I know him!! I…” 

“You know him..?” The man replied. “Were you two related?”

Unsure on how to respond, Tei leaned back as she tried to explain to the man how she knew him. The thing is, she didn’t even know _why_ she seemed to know that face, as it was another anomaly the museum had handed to her to deal with. 

Swiping her hair back underneath her ear, she fidgeted with herself before she finally replied. 

“I just… I just know him.” She finally responded, looking at the picture once more. 

The man looked at her, and then the portrait again.

“Well…” The man started. “I just… know em’ too.” He said, leaning in to stare at the picture again. 

“I-i-its him.” The man muttered. “It’s Dan.” He said, almost crying as his eyes remained glued to the page.

Tei watched the man grow emotional, and decided to delve into him while she had the chance. 

“Did he mean a lot to you?” Tei began to take notes as she questioned him. 

“He did. He really did… Been lookin’ for him for ages.” The man sniffled, and wiped his nose. 

“I finally found him in this book…”

The two stood in silence until the man finally turned towards Tei. Putting his sudden emotions to the side, he greeted her. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself… I’m Roger.” Roger said.

“Tei.” Tei replied, nodding her head in response. “Nice to meet you.”

Yet again, something felt familiar about _something_. The name of this man really clicked with her somehow, but again she made the effort to dismiss her thoughts about it before she went too far down the rabbithole. Desperate for an explanation for these feelings, she tried to make herself think the nostalgia of the museum was getting to her. Alas, she couldn’t believe the lie she made for herself, and had weaved her feelings into the conversation instead as a way to find an answer to it. 

“So… Roger… has anything else in this museum struck you as familiar? Tei asked, holding her pen to her notepad to make it seem like she was taking notes. In truth, she just wanted to know if Roger felt the same way throughout his time at the museum. 

Roger took the time to think about her question, leaning back on his heels as he spent a moment lost in thought. After a while of thinking, he finally spoke.

“The war. There’s a lot about that big war.” He replied.

“The tank?” Tei asked.

“Yeah… maybe.” Roger replied.

“I guess for me, it’s that medieval exhibit. Y’know the one? With the knights, their old armor.” 

Tei blinked. She recalled the feelings she had earlier when she saw the armor on display.

“There’s like.. A story about a knight up there who fought a dragon. Had a talking horse. I feel like…” 

“You’ve met him?” Tei interrupted. 

“Yeah, feels like I’ve known him? I know that’s weird to say…” Roger replied. 

“I understand. It really is weird how so much of this feels so familiar…” Tei said.

Roger looked at her again, this time matching eyes with her as he began to look at her intently. Hoping he wasn’t catching onto anything, she quickly changed her words.

“...to you. A lot of it is familiar to you.” She quickly corrected herself.

Seemingly unphased, Roger looked back at the book as he took his eyes away from her, his eyes fixated again on the picture of the young man.

“What seems the most familiar of all is him…” Roger said, talking to the book.

Leaning in, he began to read the text that accompanied the picture.

“Dan Henning…” He read. “A part of a huge family, look at em’. He looks so happy…” Roger smiled at the page.

“He’s… usually so shy and reserved, you know…” Roger said, his words constantly trailing off. 

“But… he’s from the past.” Tei said back to him. “How.... how could you know that?” She questioned.

“I just, I just know.” Roger placed his hand on the picture, his eyes growing watery again as he struggled to restrain his emotions. 

“...I just know. Something inside me knows.” 

The two stood in silence again, with Tei watching the man become entranced in the photo. She wasn’t sure exactly what their relationship was, but she knew he meant a great deal to him.

Prepping her notepad for more notes, she was about to write more about the situation until she was suddenly interrupted by Roger turning to speak to her again.

“Y’know… you seem familiar too, thinking about it.” Roger said, looking her over.

“Really?” Tei said back. “How so?”

“It just feels like we’ve met before.” 

Tei stared at him back, baffled as she didn’t recognize him at all.

“Here, let me…” Stopping mid-sentence, Roger took out a pair of black sunglasses from his pants pocket, and leaned his head down to put them on. Once the pair was on his face, he looked back up at Tei.

Gasping, Tei couldn’t comprehend who she was seeing now.

“You’re… You’re THAT Roger! ...Your name was Roger, right!?” She instantaneously recognized him by his sunglasses as yet again a strong grip took hold of her, telling her over and over again that _she knew him._

“Yes, Roger. Roger Nyckel.” He replied, grinning. 

“I… I know you! I know you, but I…”

“You can’t seem to know _how_ you know me?” Roger interrupted. 

“Y-y-yes, yes that..! It’s all so strange…” Tei replied, almost breaking down due to how much she was feeling at the current moment. These feelings constantly attacked her, as an ever constant air of familiarity hung around her as she constantly pondered why she even felt that way. 

“It is. I’ve racked my brain forever now, but I still don’t know why I keep feeling like I know people… Even people as old as him.” Roger looked down once more to the picture of Dan.

“I feel that. Been having that feeling ever since I came into the museum.” Tei replied.

Giving up on her notes, Tei finally put her notepad away in her purse as she also gave into the pure confusion she felt. Nothing made sense anymore. 

Taking advantage of the moment, Roger started talking to her again.

“I hope this isn’t sudden… but your name isn't _really_ Tei, is it?” Roger looked up from the book, this time slowly turning to look her in the eye. He hoped he was right in his assumption.

“Something, something just tells me your name was Jesse.”

Tei gulped. She tried to figure out in her head how he even _knew her fake name._ She tried to reply to him, but wasn’t sure how to correct him.

_“Well… to be honest.”_ She thought. _“It’s the other way around, it’s a fake name, I use the name Jesse for my journalism… m-my job...”_

As much as she wanted to correct him, she went along with it to see where it would take her.

“Y-yes. You’re right.” Tei finally replied, still floored by how he knew that name. 

“I see.” Roger said. For once, he moved away from the book, and put his hands on his hips as he prepared to ask Tei a final question as he looked at her. 

“So… Jesse… Do you want to go for some drinks? Maybe we can talk more about what we remember. It's clear as day we both know each other from somewhere.” Roger asked.

He took a hand off of his hip and extended it towards her, inviting her to join him. 

Hesitating, Tei thought about the proposal for a second, second guessing everything as her thoughts became a large maze. One thing stood out in the scary maze that manifested, however, and it was the fact that she _did_ know this man. 

_“I do know this guy…”_ She thought. _"Why not?”_

Making her decision, she shook his hand back in agreement to go with him. 

“Great.” Roger said, with a soft grin across his face. “Lemme grab Dan first.” Turning around, he grabbed the large book from earlier and placed it under his arm to take with him.

“Can't leave him behind.” Tei remarked, smiling at Roger as she watched him make sure the book was safe under his arm.

“Nope.” Roger replied, happy to have Dan with him. 

The two began to exit the main archive room, making their way towards the entrance that had the old wooden staircase and out into the beyond, with only a mere conversation left for the two to have for them to discover that the entire time, they too, were on the same island, long ago...


End file.
